Vivo X21s announced: A bigger, longer lasting Vivo X21 is here

Vivo’s latest phone is largely identical to the X21, but offers a slightly bigger battery and larger display.

The new phone will retail for ~$361 in China, putting it squarely in the mid-range price bracket.

The Vivo X21 was a landmark device for the company, coming as part of the first wave of phones with an in-display fingerprint sensor. The brand then followed up with the MediaTek-powered Vivo X21i, and the variants aren’t stopping just yet.

Vivo has just launched the Vivo X21s (h/t: MySmartPrice), and it’s mostly identical to the standard model. That means a Snapdragon 660 chipset, 6GB of RAM, and a 12MP+5MP (f/1.8 and f/2.4) rear camera setup. The phone also retains the X21’s in-display fingerprint sensor.

There are a few key differences though, such as a 3,400mAh battery, a 24MP f/2.0 selfie camera, and a 6.41-inch full HD+ AMOLED screen with a waterdrop notch. By comparison, the vanilla X21 offers a 3,200mAh battery, a 12MP selfie shooter, and a notched 6.28-inch full HD+ screen. Additionally, the new phone is only available in a 128GB variant, as opposed to the X21’s 64GB and 128GB options.

Editor’s Pick

Best phones with in-display fingerprint scanners

The first phone with an in-display fingerprint scanner was the Vivo X20 Plus UD, which was announced in January. Since then, we’ve seen quite a few other smartphones with this technology from companies like Huawei, …

Fortunately, the Vivo X21s has a headphone jack, but it seems like the device is still using the older microUSB port rather than USB Type-C. As for software, the new phone packs Android 8.1 powered by Vivo’s FunTouch OS — no Android Pie just yet.

The Vivo X21s is set to retail for 2,498 yuan (~$360), which means it’s one of the cheaper devices with an in-display fingerprint sensor. It’s not the cheapest one though, as the recent Oppo K1 offers an in-display scanner for ~$231.

It seems like the new phone is only available in China right now, but you can check out the store listing via the button below.